


Caves

by oowenhunt



Category: Chicago Med
Genre: Horror, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-10-30 02:48:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17820362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oowenhunt/pseuds/oowenhunt
Summary: Will continues to have the same nightmare over and over again without any idea why.





	1. The nightmare

Chapter One - The nightmare.

_I’m walkin’ in a forest with bare feet of all things. My feet crunch the leaves and the twigs that are beneath my feet. Rocks shift under my weight, occasionally pokin’ the soles of my feet. I’m not overly bothered by it._

_It’s a clouded over day and mist hangs in the air. It’s hard to see in front of me very far but I keep walkin’ forward. I’m not sure what drives me but I know I gotta keep goin’._

_I’m feelin fearful and my pace quickens suddenly. This quickenin’ of my heart rate, this feelin of unease in my stomach overtakes me. I start to run. My long legs propel me forward and for the first time, I turn my head to look behind me._

_It’s comin._

_I probably shouldn’t have looked but I had to. I had to._

_I continue to run but I know soon, it’ll outpace me. I’m tirin’. You would think a job where I’m always on my feet, runnin all the time that I could do this._

_But I can’t._

_Suddenly I can’t breathe._

_I can feel its breath on my neck and its arms are around me._

_I feebly try to get away but my strength is gone. I try to cry out. Yell for someone to help me._

 

I wake up in bed, gasping for air. I clutch my chest and sit up, heaving. I’m bathed in sweat and I wait for my heart to stop pounding against my ribs, desperately trying to escape their confines. “Fuck…” I manage to mumble, running a hand through my hair while I try to slow down my breathin. It takes some doin but I think I’ve finally calmed myself down enough to get up.

It’s 5am on a Sunday and thankfully I’m not workin tho I wish I was. 

This is the third time I’ve had this dream and I always feel the same way afterwards. I don’t know what it means or why but I’m hopin it’s just stress induced. 

I started havin these dreams the year I turned 30. I was pretty stressed out then too and I think ‘bout the year I’ve had now. It makes sense. 

Maybe I need a fuckin spa day or some shit. Somethin to relax myself or a vacation but--that’s pretty fuckin doubtful.


	2. Waking up to Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kind of chapter that makes you go "what the fuck is happening".

I push myself outta bed and head outta my room and into the kitchen. I make coffee for myself because regardless of the state I’m in, I’d rather avoid a headache on top of it. I plan to drink some water right after to lessen the effects. 

The hot liquid is comfortin as I take a quick sip of it before sittin’ down on my couch in front of the tv. The sun isn’t even up yet and my eyebrows furrow. Maybe I shoulda tried to fall back asleep but I know myself well enough to know that it wouldn’t have worked. 

Maybe the universe was tryin to give me a break as my pager goes off. I sigh in relief when I look and I’m bein called in on my day off. I don’t care. Not today. While I’m tryin to find some clean scrubs and get ready for work, I take the time to finish off my coffee.

The drive there is nice considerin it’s Sunday mornin and there’s barely a soul outside. I park and take a moment to breath deeply. I’m still a little freaked out by that dream. I feel like someone’s watchin me but then again, the security guard might be in already. I get outta my car and head down into the hospital. I say hi to the night shift nurses that are still there, finishin up and I stuff my things into my locker. Headin’ out onto the floor and I’m immediately swept into a case. 

A couple of hours later I see Connor arrive at work and I give him a quick wave before I order some more tests on a patient. The day is already a busy one and the mornin hasn’t even ended yet. It’s later on in the afternoon when I’m sitting on the couch in the lounge with my head tilted back and my eyes closed when I hear someone come into the room. I lift my head and crack an eye open before closing it again. I feel his lips on mine and I smile. 

“Mmm missed you last night..” Connor murmurs to me as he kisses me once more before sittin down next to me.

“I missed ya too. I was just so dead ass tired..” I reply, yawnin, leaning my head against his head. 

“Why don’t you come over tonight?” Connor suggests to me, bringin’ a hand up and runnin his fingers through my hair. 

“Mm okay..” I don’t wanna argue with that. Be nice to be sleepin next to ‘em and maybe I wouldn’t have that nightmare. “I’ll try not to be sleepin when you get home..” 

We both know that’s gonna be a lie because chances are, when I’m off shift, I’m gonna be sleepin in that big ass bed he has.

I cuddle into him for a little while longer before I reluctantly rip myself away from him. How I made it through that shift I’ll never know but I’m practically on autopilot when I’m drivin to Connor’s. I get there and head upstairs to his apartment. I’m hungry but I can’t even fathom stayin awake long enough to eat. Instead, I head into his bedroom, take my clothes off and fall into bed.

The dream invades my mind again.

_The woods._

_It’s dark this time and I’m runnin. I can feel my throat burnin._

_There’s a fear of the unknown because every time I have this dream, for some reason, I can’t turn around. I’ve turned before but I can’t this time. Not that it ever yields any sort of results anyway. All I ever see is darkness when I turn._

_I reach a cliff this time. There’s water at the bottom and I know without bein in there, that it’s gonna be ice cold._

_I can hear it breathin. I hear its footsteps gettin closer and closer before I just launch myself off the cliff and dive, not very gracefully into the ice cold water._

I wake up in a cold sweat. I’m yellin this time and I guess Connor’s home because he rushed into the bedroom. 

“I’m fine..” I try to say, bathed in sweat, chest heavin’. 

Of course he doesn’t believe me because his arms wrap around me. I cough a little, tasting sea water in my mouth. Leanin’ over the edge of the bed, I spit whatever it is out and fall back into Connor. 

“You’re shaking…” Connor murmurs into my ear, his words laced with worry. I’m pretty fuckin worried too. The last time I ever had night terrors was years ago. 

These always seem real. 

 

He does his best to comfort me and I tuck myself into his body. I want as much comfort as he can give me. I quietly weep into his chest before he’s nudgin me to sit up. Connor’s got some whiskey and damn if he’s not perfect sometimes. 

“Thank you..” I say quietly to him, offering a very small smile and I clutch the cup, drinkin’ it down in no time at all. 

Cuddlin’ back into him, I press my ear to his chest and listen to his heart beat. Connor’s such a comfortin human bein and I can’t believe sometimes that it took us so long to get together. I suppose Nat movin on from me so quickly after our _almost_ weddin mighta done that. 

It’s not long before I fall asleep against him. 

I sleep soundlessly. 

I almost feel rested the next mornin but I still don’t feel right. I don’t wanna go to work but I don’t wanna be alone. I know I’d feel guilty makin Connor stay home from work too. 

He knows me well enough to know the sort of internal battle I’m havin and tells me we’ll do a half day. The pair of us linger in bed for a while. Perhaps on a normal day, I’d be tryin to make some moves but my brain still very fixed on fear. 

“You wanna tell me about your dream?” Connor gently coaxes me. I know he’s not gonna push me and that he only wants to help. I’m just not sure I can even speak about it. 

I press my lips together in thought. “It….” I can already feel myself wellin up and I’m realizin as I try to give Connor some pieces of this puzzle that it’s gonna be difficult. “It...starts...with...me...runnin...in the woods…” I feel tears runnin down my cheeks and I silently curse myself for not just gettin it out.

Instead I just shake my head and cuddle into him again. Connor doesn’t press. I’m sure this won’t be the last time he’ll bring it up but for now, I just want some peace.

Our peace doesn’t last as we reluctantly get out of bed and start our day. Work is busy as it always is and I can tell Connor’s got a tough case. Him and Ava are glarin at each other and I hope they manage to resolve it by the end of the day.

I get a cancer patient which is always upsettin to me. Never fails to remind me of my Mum.

It’s then that I keep seein somethin’ outta the corner of my eye. I can’t...I can’t… _see_ what it is because every time I turn, it’s gone. 

That feelin of fear is there and I wonder if it’s whatever it was in my dream..except...that’s a dream..Maybe I’m gettin the flu or somethin. Maybe my meds are makin me have weird dreams. 

I’ve got excuses. A lot of them that reason why I’m feelin this way. There’s a tiny part of me that knows what the truth is but I haven’t found it yet. 

 

I’m sittin in the cafeteria tryin to shovel down the food I bought as fast as possible. I’m lost in a day dream for a second when I feel arms around me. A smile spreads on my face only I realize as I focus that no one is there. There’s pressure in my chest and I gasp and cough. I grab the rest of my food and carry it away. I can’t bare to eat anymore but I can’t waste it. 

My chest hurts. 

It feels bruised and it aches every time I take a deep breath. I hurry myself into the bathroom and lift my shirt to find two red perfectly shaped hand prints on my chest. 

“Oh my god…” 

I don’t think i did it to myself. I would have remembered. People woulda saw. Splashin water on my face _sorta_ helps and I think for a second that I’ve imagined this whole scenario. The pain in my chest says otherwise…

I desperately want safety but I don’t want to be alone. It’s hard to figure out what to do. I finally do the only thing I can think of and text Connor. Maybe he’ll have..I don’t know but his arms are comfortin’. This is assumin he’ll come if he’s not busy. I try not to word the text message too pressin. 

It doesn’t take Connor long to come to me. I’m sittin in the lounge now, next to the sofa on the floor. Seemed like a good place to hide. 

“What’s going on? What are you doing down there?” The older man asks, stridin’ forward and crouchin’ in front of me. 

“I...I’m just..not havin a good day…” I croak back to him. Maybe I shouldn’t be at work at all. What use am I when I can’t even do my job to take my mind off it?

Connor doesn’t hesitate to convince me that we need to go home and passes off his case to Ava much to her confusion. I know I’m gettin looks from Maggie and Goodwin but I avert my eyes. I’m used to this. We head out the side door and soon we’re home and I’m curled into him. I wonder what I did to deserve such a great guy. 

I’m so tired of bein scared and barely sleepin but I can’t imagine closin my eyes. I’m tryin to keep myself awake as I lay in Connor’s arms but it’s provin pretty impossible. I decide to rest my eyes for a second, which, is obviously a terrible idea and I fall asleep really quick.

It feels like his arms protect me from whatever it is that’s plaguing my mind. I sleep peacefully for the first time in days until he rolls over.

_Once again I’m thrust into whatever sort of dream world I’ve been stuck in only I’m in the water, tryin to swim against the current. I’m a decent swimmer but I get tired even in my dreams. I can’t swim for days because this feels like seconds before I’m driftin under the water, barely fighting as waves overtake me._

_It doesn’t hurt which I suppose I’m grateful for but I’m terrified. I want to cry out but I can’t._

_I can’t breathe properly which I mean, makes sense considerin I’m driftin into the depths of the ocean. My chest is tight and I try once more to fight this but somethin is pushin me down._

_Please no..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry I was confused too.


End file.
